Monday, February 16, 2009

Week 7

Astronomy Homework

Once upon a time, in a spring blanket of flowers, there was a little magic town, far away from the troubles of the world. Under a clear twinkling sky, the town slept peacefully in their charming houses, not a care in the world entering their dreamy states. On the outskirts of town however, in the stony high astronomy tower, one person was still awake, pouring over his textbooks.

Reece, a schoolboy and young magician, moved back and forth across the large study, lazily flipping through advanced spell books and tinkering with his father's unusual astronomy gadgets. Brass twirling thing-ma-bobs and planetary gizmos could not amuse him at the moment. Reece had, you see, locked himself in his father's tower for the night, under his own bad circumstances. It was only that evening that the lad remembered about the astronomy homework he was yet to do, and sleeping through class had him missing some useful information. As Reece's father was the resident Sorcerer of Cosmology, it would be utterly embarrassing to show up to class empty handed when he had so much material at his fingertips. He wasn't the best of students when it came to basic magic and incantations, but he often had brilliant insight in creating his own spells, whether they blew up in his face or not. Perhaps astronomy wasn't passed into his blood, but experimentation was there in it's stead.

But now, as the night stretched on, it started to seem as if Reece would never finish the charts and questions in time for school. All of his father's star location posters on the wall had been useful, but the books around him were imposing with their high level of vocabulary and explanations that only seemed to confuse him more and more. With a mighty sigh, he slumped down in the room's largest chair, staring blankly at the large open sky of the window. A great black emptiness with diamonds stuck floating above. So much was out there, blinking back at him. Stars; planets; galaxies; and … a meteor? Slowly speeding across the sky, was a large ball of white leaving behind a gleaming tail; much larger than a shooting star, but it wasn't descending towards earth, it was traveling along. A passing comet!

Reece sat up in his chair to watch it. It was close, very close, as far as comets go. A graceful stream cutting across the peaceful night sky. How lucky to catch sight of one! If only he could use this comet for some sort of assignment; an essay maybe. He felt compelled at that moment to do something ...a little drastic. Perhaps he couldn't finish his homework in time, but maybe if he could impress his teacher enough to pass him...Hmm, a little bit of dust from the tail of that comet might do. How great would it be to show up to class with that? Wetting his lips anxiously, Reece decided to do it. He prepared himself for the impulsive endeavor, thinking of a way to get close to the comet. His father had warned him before to “fear and honour the cosmos, for we are at it's mercy”, but desperate times called for desperate measures! So what's the harm in trailing behind a comet for a bit?

With a bit of courage and concentration, Reece stepped onto the stony railing of the window. He had a long rope attached to his waist of which tied on the other end was a semi-large enchanted stone magnet. Reece placed his palms on the magnet, clumsily reciting a following-incantation he remembered from class, and combining it with his own long-distance spell to follow the comet. He was usually very confidence in his impulsive spells, so with hand above his head, he swung the magnet like a sling, giving it speed, and then letting go with all of his might.

Although he hadn't needed to let go at all, because with the magic instilled in it, the stone magnet suddenly propelled forward, surprising Reece into a yelp. He soared through the sky like a helpless ragdoll tied behind the speeding arrow of a magnet. With a tight hand over his hat, the cold wind of the night whipped around him. It was as if, he imagined, falling off of a very high building, only... reversed. Up, up, It pulled him; over the town, over the country, and over the planet, in it's determination of reaching the comet as the spell commanded. He passed through the clouds, swirly like cream, and through the stale atmosphere, out into orbit. Past the pull of earth's gravity, the space around him felt like he was moving through dark water. Reece wanted to turn around for a view of what was behind him, quickly getting nervous about this plan, but he was being carried along much too quickly for a chance to see. The brilliant white of the comet was getting closer and closer, a sparkling ice crystal that streaked effortlessly through the blackness of space. It was much larger close up, - and fast! Faster than anything Reece had seen before; and now they were going to head-on collide with it! They were at their destination. With a great crunch, the stone magnet collided into the head of the comet. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the speeding journey; If anything, The comet was so fast that it felt like riding a hurricane. Reece couldn't see anything in the wind and ice and dust, and soon the rope couldn't hold much longer. It snapped, hurling Reece backwards, twirling into nothingness. And the comet continued to soar, farther and farther away as the young magician flew hopelessly through space, until- He felt his clothes catch onto something.

There, dangling in space, Reece hung by the back of his shirt on the point of a star. The lad shook his head slowly, dizzy from the fall, and tried to make sense in his head of where he could possibly be. There was dark all around him, save for the ever blinking stars, and he could see the comet, a tiny insect, wizzing away from him. “ Oh no.” he groaned.

“ 'Oh no' indeed.” came a voice from behind. Reece tried to whirl around to see where it had come from.

“ What? Excuse me?” He asked in confusion. How could there possibly be someone speaking?

“ Excuse you? I suppose I shall have to, seeing as how you oh-so-gracefully stuck yourself onto me.”

“ Onto you?” Reece tried to look behind himself again. He wasn't quite sure what he was stuck on, but whatever it was didn't seem at all happy about saving his life. “ I can't exactly help where I am at the moment. And who are you exactly?” He asked cautiously.

The voice became very ornery now. “ I'm the star who's shine is suddenly very dull indeed thanks to you scuffing it up. If it was up to me, I'd have let you continue twirling around like a chunk of ugly space rock, but I don't have much choice in the matter. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my usual bit of twinkling.”

“ Well I'm very sorry,” Reece replied embarrassed, and slightly annoyed. “ But I can't exactly move at the moment.”

“ Oh lovely. I'll just float here all dim then, shall I? Yes, I suppose I'll start a new fashion trend of abstractly leaning to the weight of some fleshy earth-brat. ”

Rolling his eyes, the young magician tried to ignore the star's obnoxious complaining. He looked to the stars around him, trying to identify any markers of where he was. He couldn't recognize any planets and doubted that he was still within his home solar system. Although... hadn't the crotchety voice behind him mentioned it?

“ Hold on,” Reece started. “ You mentioned Earth. Do you know how I get back then? Do you know where we are?”

“ Of course I know where we are!” The star snapped. It's voice was had a slight echo in the surrounding space. “ You think I've never seen people like you? Huh? Well it happens more often than not, although never before have I had the pleasure of swinging one around.”

So, it can't be so terribly far, can it? Reece wondered. “ How far are we from Earth?”

“ I've been staring at it here for hundreds of thousand of years, although I'm sure an underdeveloped species like yourself can't see it. “

“ Alright, alright!” Reece sighed. “ Look, I really am sorry I landed on you, and if anything, I'd like to get off and let you get about your shining business. But as it is, I haven't the slightest idea how to get back home!”

“ Oh please.” The star huffed. “ If you have a brain, be inclined to use it.”

A small snickering was heard in the distance. Oh great, Reece thought. Now the other stars are laughing at me. The laughter stopped and decided to speak now, although not catty like the other star. It was rather kind and soft. “ Must you be so mean to the Earth-child?”

“ Of course.” The star replied, still very bitter.

“ If you need help, young one, then summon me.” the voice said sweetly. “ The power that got you here will surely get you back.”

“ Summon you?” The magician felt very shy all of a sudden. Who was speaking to him? A kind voice in the cosmos was reaching out, but apparently he was the one who had to call forward to it. He tried to focus his eyes on the stars around him. They seemed so scattered... and yet, they made formations on some accounts. Of course, I've just been studying this, haven't I? The constellations were there; shining outlines of the figures they represented. Perhaps... he could call on one of them.